Alumni Career Profiles
Patent Attorney – Erik Scheuermann
Name: Erik Scheuermann
Qualification: PhD in Chemistry, 1999-2003, Queen Mary
Job title and company: Partner at Witte, Weller & Partners, German and European Patent, Design and Trade-mark Attorney
Why did you first choose this career?
The first time I was told about the profession was in France when my then supervisor suggested I apply with the European Patent Office. She said that I’d be a very good candidate because I speak three languages. I later learned that if I joined a private practice I could be my own boss while still earning a credible salary, which suited me.
What does your current job involve on a day-to-day basis?
Drafting and prosecuting patent applications – inventors apply for patents of their design to prevent other individuals from making, using, selling or distributing the patented invention without permission – liaising with my clients, giving advice on all things related to patent and trademark law, day-to-day running of the business side of a law firm.
How did your PhD prepare you to work as a patent lawyer?
Apart from the usual ‘life-skills’ like time management and so on, I’d say it taught information search and retrieval as well as the ability to put abstract concepts into words in a structured way.
What are the favourite aspects of your job?
Inter-parties proceedings, close co-operation with my clients and the fact that I’m my own boss.
What are your least favourite aspects?
Hard to say, fortunately not too many. It can sometimes be hard on your private life because deadlines need to be kept.
Any final advice for students interested in a career in patent law?
Learn languages, the more the better. Go abroad and live or work there, as it helps broadening the horizon. Remember taking up this career means starting afresh. You might have been the best PhD student but once you leave science it is a completely new game. And yes one thing I had to learn is that once you join the legal professional answers are rarely yes or no: in law there are a lot of maybes.
Business Development Manager -Apostolos Siscoglou
Name: Apostolos Siscoglou
Qualification: PhD in Dental Biophysics, 2008, Queen Mary
Job title and company: Business Development Manager, nanoTherics.
How did you find your first job?
My first job was rather challenging. I always had an interest in management and completed a MSc in Health Management. As soon as I finished my PhD I jumped straight into a sales position at Windsor Scientific where I was responsible for 3 different product ranges (Nanosurf, Lyncee Tec and Hysitron) for the UK and Ireland. In a year where the UK was going under financial recession finding clients and closing deals proved to be difficult but the steep learning curve was exactly what I needed to understand some of the fundamentals of sales and business.
What jobs have you had since Queen Mary?
After a year at Windsor Scientific and since November 2009, I joined nanoTherics as a Business Development Manager and have been with the company for the past 10 months. nanoTherics offers magnetic nanoparticle based products which include novel gene and small molecule transfection technologies to facilitate research and development in gene-related diseases and disorders.
What does your current job involve on a day to day basis?
My job has two main aspects:
- I am responsible for management and support of our distributor network which spans across the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Singapore and Korea.
- I am responsible for direct sales of all nanoTherics products in all territories that are not currently covered by distributors.
My day-to-day tasks can be summarised as:
- Visiting high profile labs and meeting with key opinion leaders in the genetics/biotechnology field around the world.
- Carry out product demonstrations.
- Carry out product/sales training for nanoTherics distributors.
- Supporting distributors into progressing and closing sales.
- Carry out marketing activities to attract new customers
- Attend and represent nanoTherics at important conferences and exhibitions around the world.
- Identify new distributors in important territories.
What are the favourite and least favourite aspects of your job?
I am currently involved in a fast-paced environment and I love the world-wide aspect of my job as I usually do not know where I will be in two weeks time. I get the chance to meet with important researchers who drive science and work with them to achieve better results for their research. I also enjoy been given the opportunity to play an important role in a company and grow with it enhancing my knowledge and understanding of the business world.
The least favourite aspect of my job is that sometimes in an uncertain economic client it can be difficult to close deals which might demotivate you, however, this is what also provides the most interesting challenges of my job.
Who are the major employers in your sector?
Universities, pharmaceutical companies, government research bodies, charities (R&D) and biotech companies.
Any final advice for students interested in a career in your area?
Try to understand what skills you have acquired through the degree, other than knowledge, and use these to present yourselves at an interview. Be aware of the biotech market, who the main players are and different techniques/products offered.
Technical sales requires enthusiasm and drive, among other things. Usually in a Bachelors or Masters degree you are mostly following a path whereas during a PhD you get to be in the driving seat more often. Be ready to take chances, follow them through and drive them to success!
Science Communicator – Sai Pathmanathan
Name: Sai Pathmanathan
Qualification: BSc. (Hons) Biology, 1995-1998, Queen Mary; D.Phil in Neuroscience, 1998-2001, University of Oxford
Job title and company:Programme Director, Ignition* at Ignite!
Why did you first choose this career?
I was always interested in science. I studied for a Biology degree at QMUL and it was here that I got my first taste of science communication, even if I did think it was the teaching profession I was falling for. I did a stint with what was then called the BP East London Tutoring Connection and loved teaching maths, science and English to primary school students. However following on from my final year research project, I wanted to continue in research (thinking I could always go into academia, become a lecturer and still ‘teach’).
After finishing my degree in Biology at QMUL, I decided to do a D.Phil. (PhD) simply because I enjoyed my final year undergraduate research project and thought I would enjoy three more years of something similar. During my PhD I visited schools and helped my funder promote science education. I spoke to members of the British Interactive Group about how I could do this as a career. The rest is history: I moved into science education straight after my PhD, working for upd8, the Physiological Society, the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) and Planet Science, working on all aspects of science education, external relations, events and project management as well as writing and developing educational resources.
I began freelancing for various organisations, and also for Ignite!, co-ordinating a small pilot outreach project funded by the East Midlands Development Agency, Come Alive With Science – which is now one of the strands in the Ignition* programme!
What does your current job involve on a day-to-day basis?
As a part-time Programme Director for Ignition* (a programme of creative approaches to the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) in the East Midlands – www.ignitefutures.org.uk), and also freelancing on other science education and communication projects, I feel like I get the best of both worlds. On one hand I work with STEM professionals, creative practitioners (artists, filmmakers, actors etc.), funders and stakeholders as well as looking for various opportunities to collaborate with different organisations; and on the other hand I get to be involved in my own projects.
My time is equally shared between project management (organising events for young people, training workshops for teachers and scientists, networking events), writing educational resources (in all sciences), writing and editing articles and the actual delivery of hands on science activities and careers work in schools.
What are the favourite aspects of your job?
What I enjoy most about my job is the variety – the people I meet, the places I get to travel to, the events and the fact that every day and every project is different.
What are your least favourite aspects?
What I don’t enjoy about my job is not always having enough time to do everything. Having a part-time job and freelancing isn’t easy. The downside to trying to create a ‘flexible lifestyle’, is that you need to be able to self-motivate to ensure that all deadlines are met but also find the right balance, so that you don’t end up working ridiculous hours (although that sometimes happens!).
Any final advice for students interested in a career in science communication?
Science communication is such a huge and diverse field. Think about the area that you are most passionate about: education (working with young people in or out of schools), public engagement (general public, museums, events, science festivals), policy (government, stakeholder engagement), journalism (science stories in national/local press, or articles specialist journals and publications, educational resource writing), media (science radio, broadcast television). Then sign up to the appropriate networks dedicated to that particular field, go to science events, festivals and conferences, start speaking to experts in the field, find out what is out there and get yourself out there!
Medical Communication – Vilma Graupner
Name: Vilma Graupner
Qualification: Diploma in Biology, Humboldt-University of Berlin (1998-2003); PhD in Biology, University of Düsseldorf (2004-2008); Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Queen Mary University of London (2008-2010)
Job title and company: Medical Writer, Health Interactions
Why did you first choose this career?
During my PhD I realised that working in academia would not be my preferred long-term career goal. Having spent 9 years in laboratory-based research I decided that it was time for a career change. As I really enjoyed science I was looking for a job that allowed me to remain in close contact with research and clinical developments but without having to carry out the experiments! Furthermore, I wanted to find a job with a clearer career path that offered economic security.
I learnt about medical communications by word of mouth and career events. I immediately developed an enthusiasm for this sector as I felt that this working environment would enable me to remain in close contact with science while combining my scientific background with the commercial and marketing aspects of the pharmaceutical industry.
After being withHealth Interactions for 7 months I can already say that it was the right decision to move from academia to medical communications. The work is very varied and interesting, it allows me to apply my scientific knowledge but challenges me to think about and meet the marketing requirements of the client. In addition, I think that this job helps me to develop new skills that will be very valuable if I ever wanted to pursue a new career path.
What does your current job involve on a day-to-day basis?
As a medical writer you are responsible for:
1) Writing manuscripts from clinical study reports.
2) Developing posters and power point slides for oral presentations at conferences for the client and key opinion leaders.
3) Providing on-site support at conferences/symposia/advisory boards.
4) Writing meeting minutes, performing literature searches, competitor monitoring, tracking down abstracts of interests for your client or other more administrative tasks.
How did your PhD prepare you to work as a medical writer?
Apart from the obvious writing experience from writing up your PhD, it helps you to think analytically, analyse data critically, focus on the crucial aspects of your work and broadens your knowledge in a certain research area. I would say, however, that a PhD is helpful but not essential in this job.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
The requirement to use my scientific knowledge and the development of expertise in a specific therapy area are aspects I really enjoy.
Although the company is interested in having experts in certain therapy areas, this does not mean that you will remain in this area forever; as need arises you might be allocated to a different account within a completely different therapy area. Apart from the uncomfortable feeling of being moved out of one’s comfort zone, this gives you the chance to broaden your horizon.
I also enjoy the commercial aspect of the work. You need to understand your client’s marketing strategy. This is interesting and challenging, especially when you come from academia where these aspects are less relevant.
What are the most challenging aspects of your work?
You constantly have to meet deadlines and sometimes deal with unexpected tasks. Clients can be demanding! Although this makes you feel that your work is important and that you contribute something substantial, one can quite easily feel stressed. I am sure that coping effectively with stress it is down to personality type but I find this aspect of the work the most challenging.
In addition, you have to learn to use a certain ‘preferred’ language and to communicate your client’s key medical objectives in your work.
Do you have any final advice for students interested in a career in medical communications?
Your education in academia equips you with the qualifications you need in medical communications.
You will need to develop an understanding of your client’s marketing strategy and this can be developed ‘on the job.’ Of course, you have to enjoy writing texts, developing scientific content and discussions about grammar should not irritate you.
If you are interested in medical communications but you hated writing your PhD thesis, a role as Account Executive/Manager/Director might be more suitable for you. This does not mean that you never develop any scientific content but people working on the client services side focus more on client liaison, budgeting, management and administration.
Management Consultant – Samuel Pachoud
Name: Samuel Pachoud
Qualification: PhD Computer Vision Lab, School of Electronic Engineering; BSc Engineering and Computer Science QMUL.
Job Title and Company: Ernst and Young, London
What does your current job involve on a day-to-day basis?
In short: teaming, stakeholder management, travelling and long hours. In long: I am part of the Advisory service line, which provides services to a wide variety of clients from city councils to major utilities companies across theUKand internationally. I spend around 90% of my time on the client’s site, supporting them in going through big, or not so big, transformations of their business. Transformations range from cost reduction, to re-designing a client’s organisational structure, to improving its customer experience. The job involves being a team player as well as a team leader, managing clients’ expectations, analysing problems and providing solutions.
What background/experience/qualifications are required for the role?
The basic requirement is at least 320 UCAS points at A level and a 2:1 honours degree. Apart from those minimum academic requirements, there are no specific experiences, subjects, degrees or qualifications needed to apply as a junior. Applying as an experienced hire is a different story and varies on a case by case basis. Thus, I am not going to develop this here but I am happy to discuss it in person.
As a junior applicant, the recruiting process is lengthy and very competitive. 1 out of 100 applicants is usually hired. The key is to show you have plenty of transferable skills and that you can use them to differentiate yourself from the other applicants. Having a PhD can be a plus if you can demonstrate that you are able to transfer what you learnt into a business context.
What are the highlights and challenges of your work?
The first highlight was to receive a contract to sign at home. My first job contract ever! Then every new project gives you some excitement as you will meet new people, work in a new environment and confront new problems. Every successful delivery to the client (e.g. workshop, meetings, documents) that gets positive feedback provides a great feeling of achievement and recognition.
The challenges often come from partners in the firm (the ones who sell). They make promises to the client that we can deliver five times the work the client is asking for half the time. It is then up to the project team to deliver and even exceed expectations. So basically, you regularly end up working long hours and always have to surpass yourself.
Why and when did you decide that you wanted to search for work that wasn’t within academia?
My time as a PhD student was great. However there were elements of academia that didn’t suit me, namely the publication process and the salary. Additionally, I did not want to start my career jumping from one short-term position to another, as you are likely to do when you go for a post-doc. As I did not know what to do, I went to this exact same event about three years ago (last year of my PhD) and met a speaker who was at the time a consultant at Capgemi after having done a PhD in Computer Vision. I met with him a few months later to discuss his job further, did my own research on the consulting business, and started to apply for junior positions.
What type of research did you do before applying for your job?
From a technical point of view, none, as there is no subject matter required. However I spent several months working on my CV, engagement letter (with Tracy’s invaluable help) and researching the companies I wanted to apply to. It is important to show during the recruiting process that you know as much as you can about the company you are applying to. Additionally, you will be a stronger and more confident interviewee if you strongly believe this is the firm you want to join and you know why you want to join it.
What do you think are the most important things to be doing during a PhD with regards to developing your future career?
This is a difficult one. First, I think there are two different case scenarios: people who know what they want to do and people who don’t. I am not going to develop the former as it varies according to the job you’re aiming for. However if you’re unsure about what you want to do after a PhD – as was the case for me – I would advise to think in the first instance about what you like to do. Do you like spending time in front of your laptop debugging code, interacting with people, writing articles or point of view papers, analysing loads of data, solving problems etc? Then go and talk to as many people as you can to identify what their job entails on a daily basis, and whether or not you could see yourself doing it. Write down the jobs you like and do some research to identify what the implications of being in these different roles (location, working patterns, salary, development opportunities, diversity of work, etc.) will be. You will end-up with a couple of roles within a few firms.
What advice would you give with regards to developing a network of contacts within your industry?
I would say that prior to joining a consulting firm having a big network in the domain does not make a huge difference, but it could help to go through (or skip) the first stages of the recruiting process. However from the first day in the firm, it is paramount that you create a network and the right one. It will impact on your career at every step.
What skills and/or expertise do you use in your work that relates to your PhD/research area?
I thought about this a lot in the first few months within Ernst & Young. At first, I thought none but I now realise I was wrong. I am using many of my transferable skills and some of the technical experience I gained during my PhD. Being a bit of a geek helps as I can easily impress people with shiny graphs and fancy tables. But the two key elements are how you approach a problem and how you structure the solution. Project management, problem solving, delivery structure, are all part of completing a PhD and these are essential skills in the business world.
How does your work/role differ from your PhD and how have you dealt with this?
The job is all about perception, not only the perception you want to foster, but more importantly, how your peers and clients perceive you. These can be quite different. The type of work you will be involved in heavily depends upon the relationships you have created with relevant people. The feedback you receive is extremely important, and you should always try to identify self-development points and work on them. It is also useful to have a mentor/coach/role model.
Business Development Management- Gioia Cherubini
Name: Gioia Cherubini
Qualification: PhD Genetics and Molecular Biology, University La Sapienza, Rome
Job Role and Company: Business Development Management, Queen Mary University
Briefly tell us what your role entails.
The main purpose of the job is to develop the industry engagement and research activities of the SMD. To do this, we work closely with academics to understand their research strengths and the commercial potential of their projects. On a day-to-day basis we mainly help academics to secure research funding, especially industry-linked studentships, but also Research Council and EU grants. Besides helping with the preparation of research proposals we also identify industry partners for collaboration and negotiate the terms of this collaboration. We also work with the Technology Transfer Team to help with the identification and exploitation of research-derived intellectual property.
What background/experience/qualifications are required for the role?
A scientific degree and a post-graduate qualification are necessary because you need to have a good understanding of science. Since you work on multiple projects simultaneously you require very good organisational and project management skills and, of course, attention to detail. These are all skills that you develop during your PhD. Post-doctoral experience is not necessary (I am the only one with postdoctoral experience out of 4 colleagues in our team) but personally I found it useful to have gone through the process of writing several papers and grants proposals. Having business acumen and commercial awareness is also quite important but you can develop it on the job and you are also encouraged to go on training courses.
What are the highlights and challenges of your work?
I like how varied the job is, not only for what you do (from writing research proposals to organising industry-academia workshops, from attending networking events to preparing business plans), but also for the breadth of subjects (from dental materials to heart attack, from spinal cord injury to tumour development). The challenging part is that, since none of them are your projects, you are less in control of when and how to do things. You are a facilitator, so you can suggest things, but at the end of the day it is the academic who decides. Another challenging part of the job is the juggling between academia and industry. Since the focus of industry is different from that of academia, you have to adapt your language depending on who you are talking to. For me it’s like learning a new language every time I get in touch with companies!
Why and when did you decide that you wanted to search for work that wasn’t within academia (if this is the case)?
While I have always enjoyed research I have never been sure if I wanted to stay in academia. During my postdoc at Queen Mary, it finally became clear to me that I didn’t want to become a Principal Investigator and, since this is really the only career path for somebody wanting to do research in academia, I decided that it was time to look at other options.
What type of research did you do before applying for your job?
I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, neither was it clear to me what options I had, so I have taken advantage as much as I could of the career service at Queen Mary as well as the courses offered by the Learning Institute. I also used the Vitae website as a good resource for understanding what people with PhDs do. These helped me explore what it is that is really important for me in a job and what my strengths are. After narrowing my options down to working in science administration I became interested in Business Development. I talked to a couple of people working within this role and finally contacted the Business Development office at Queen Mary, where I ended up doing an internship leading to my current contract.
What do you think are the most important things to be doing during a PhD with regards to developing your future career?
I would suggest exploring alternative careers very early in your PhD to develop an understanding of the skills that you need for other jobs and to understand what you really like doing. Attend courses for training in skills other than research (communication, writing…) and participate in outreach activities. All this will be useful whatever jobs you want to do even if you decide that you want a career in research. And of course, don’t forget to talk to friends, colleagues, anyone, about their job!
What advice would you give with regards to developing a network of contacts within your industry?
Two very good organisations to keep an eye on are One Nucleus and the Oxbridge Biotech Roundtable (OBR). They both run events where members from both academia and industry participate and they are free to attend. They are very good occasions to meet people from industry and also to see what they look for in their collaboration with academia. The OBR is particularly tailored to PhD students since it is run by PhD students. Besides organising free networking events, they also offer internship opportunities. Participating in schemes such as Biotechnology YES (a competition where participants prepare a mock business plan to commercialise an idea) is also very useful not only to add a ‘commercial edge’ to your CV, but also to build contacts.
What skills and/or expertise do you use in your work that relates to your PhD/research area?
While my experience in research makes it easier to understand scientific proposals, I have rarely used the specific knowledge of my area of research. However, on a daily basis I use all the skills that I have developed through my PhD: project management, the ability to quickly learn new topics, organisation and writing skills, just to mention few.
How does your work/role differ from your PhD and how have you dealt with this?
As I mentioned previously, you don’t own your project and, even though the academics you are helping are usually quite appreciative, you won’t get the recognition of a first author paper, for example. Most of the work you do is behind the scenes. I haven’t found it hard adapting to this because on a personal level I draw satisfaction from doing a good job and knowing that I have been useful without necessarily needing the “starring role”. Another big difference from working in the lab is that you rely heavily on your communication and in general on your soft skills. At first it is quite hard but with a bit of experience and a ‘tongue in cheek’ attitude it gets much easier.
Modeller for the environment – Philip J Howard
Name: Philip J Howard
Qualification: PhD Applied Maths, Royal Holloway
Job Role: Modeller for the Enviornment
Company: Centre for Ecology and Hydrology
Briefly tell us what your role entails.
I work on the science of flood forecasting. It’s varied and interdisciplinary work, and I’m part of a team of 5. We liaise with people at the Met Office and Environment Agency to obtain lots of data on rainfall and river flows across the country. We develop mathematical models and computer software, which describe how the former transforms into the latter, as it falls over a river catchment. We evaluate how well models perform in operational practice, and identify areas for improvement. We advise people on how to sensibly interpret model outputs and provide support to the people who are on the frontline, helping the public. We also do all the typical research stuff like publishing papers and attending conferences to stay abreast of the latest developments in the field.
What background/experience/qualifications are required for the role?
This role required a PhD in a technical subject, but not necessarily a hydrology background – I knew nothing about it when I started. Experience with programming and data management were important, as was an ability to communicate effectively. While those might seem basic, they’re valued skills! But you need to be able to demonstrate them at interview.
What are the highlights and challenges of your work?
Our models are used every day to help produce the flood alerts that are issued by the Environment Agency, and one of our models has been estimated to be saving the UK economy at least £25million a year. It’s very satisfying to see the immediate impact of my work and to help save lives through science. Inevitably for such big projects there are political and technical complications that cause some frustration. It’s been quite a challenge to move from having a single well-defined research project over several years, to juggling lots of small projects that rarely fully answer a research question beyond ‘it’s better than what we had previously’.
Why and when did you decide that you wanted to search for work that wasn’t within academia (if this is the case)?
I applied for fellowships towards the end of my postdoc but didn’t get very far. In retrospect, I don’t think I had sufficiently good or well-defined ideas that I was passionate enough about to cut it. Doing more of the same was the only work I knew though moving to industry seemed incredibly daunting, I had no idea what a ‘real’ job involved! But I was really stressed about the career uncertainty and some exposure to university admin and politics had opened my eyes to the traditional academic career not being the ideal I’d always aspired to. So I started talking to people I knew about their jobs more and discovered places like CEH, where the jump from academia didn’t seem such a leap into the unknown.
What type of research did you do before applying for your job?
Actually, rather little – I used the interview as an opportunity to discuss the role and possible career paths and to talk to members of staff at the institution. I did talk to a colleague who’d worked at CEH before coming to Queen Mary so I had some idea that it would be a decent place. I spent some time browsing their website, reading their corporate strategy, and so on. But there’s only so much you can determine without experiencing it first-hand.
What do you think are the most important things to be doing during a PhD with regards to developing your future career?
Thinking about it! You really don’t want to get to the end and have no idea what to do next. You don’t want to find out you’ve left it too late to apply for something or to build a relationship with the people that matter. Talk to your colleagues and friends, both in and out of academia, about their work; seize opportunities to get involved in different things – give presentations, help supervise other students, learn new techniques, volunteer for committees; broaden your horizons, it will make you better at whatever you end up doing and help you to make that decision.
What advice would you give with regards to developing a network of contacts within your industry?
There are several government research centres that span the science & engineering spectrum. Visit their websites, identify areas that are of interest to you, read papers by their scientists, write to them. Seek out and talk to them at conferences and trade shows. Join the relevant professional bodies (e.g. British Hydrological Society) and attend their meetings. Visiting scientists are very welcoming; you could even initiate collaboration if your research overlaps sufficiently. Unfortunately, recruitment is very slow at the moment, but that should improve as the economy does!
What skills and/or expertise do you use in your work that relates to your PhD/research area?
While none of my early research is directly relevant to my current work, all the technical skills, like paper writing and programming, are at the heart of my role. Many of the techniques I previously used to solve abstract problems turn out to have application in hydrology and flood forecasting; I’m often surprised to find something supposedly new is in fact strangely familiar!
How does your work/role differ from your PhD and how have you dealt with this?
I’m more independent, which can be a blessing and a curse! I tend to have several different projects at once now, rather than focussing on one main research problem. Balancing their various deadlines and trying to negotiate so that I can do more of what I want to do rather than what someone else wants me to do is an interesting challenge. In academia, understanding the problem is most important, whereas now that competes with creating a product and delivering it to a deadline, incomplete or not. That can be frustrating, but it’s usually possible to highlight issues that don’t get fully resolved, and then come back to them at a later date. It certainly discourages getting too bogged-down with technicalities and favours pragmatic solutions to problems, which can be quite refreshing compared with the PhD grind, but does mean I miss the depth that pure research has. I keep a few more academic side-projects on the go for when I get a bit of spare time, or when everything else is getting on top of me!
Senior Scientist – Helen J Groombridge
Name: Helen J Groombridge
Qualification: PhD Synthetic Chemistry, School of Biological and Chemical Sciences (SBCS)
Job Role: Senior Scientist Chemistry
Company: Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl)
Briefly tell us what your role entails.
Dstl is an agency of the Ministry of Defence. We provide the MoD and wider UK Government with impartial scientific and technical advice. I am part of the Chemistry and Decontamination Group and our primary focus is Chemical, Biological and Radiological defence. Although we are part of the MOD, we work very closely with other government departments, international partners, industry and academia. We also do the usual research things, such as publishing papers and attending conferences.
What background/experience/qualifications are required for the role?
When I started at Dstl the role required a “good” degree in Chemistry, but not necessarily a PhD. Having the PhD however, enabled me to rapidly gain promotion and I am now a Senior Scientist. Experience comes with the job since it covers such a specialised area of chemistry, but you do need to be able to demonstrate good team working skills and the ability to communicate effectively.
What are the highlights and challenges of your work?
I’m extremely proud that my work helps to save lives in theUK, overseas and on the frontline. But it can be frustrating when ideas are slow to come to fruition due to politics, funding or technical complications.
Why and when did you decide that you wanted to search for work that wasn’t within academia (if this is the case)?
I started looking for jobs early -on in my postdoc. I didn’t disregard academia; it was simply that I wanted a permanent post (not a temporary contract like you have as a Postdoc). Unfortunately this was at the same time as a lot of the Universities were closing their Chemistry Departments and so good lectureships were hard to come by. Instead I looked at Industry and Government.
What research did you do before applying for your job?
I didn’t research Dstl very much at all apart from browsing their website. However, I did go to lots of graduate Recruitment Fairs, CV surgeries, interview practise etc.
What do you think are the most important things to be doing during a PhD with regards to developing your future career?
You need to have a good idea about what you might want to do after your PhD, so go to Recruitment Fairs, browse job vacancy websites, and talk to lots of people (both in and out of academia). You will need to develop your transferable skills too-give presentations, publish papers, volunteer for committees and consider joining an Accredited Professional Body (such as RSC if you’re a chemist).
What advice would you give with regards to developing a network of contacts within your industry?
Look at the website, visit recruitment fairs or speak to representatives at conferences and trade fairs. Dstl has several visiting professors at QM (and they are always eager to talk). Many of the QM academics also have collaborative research programmes with Dstl and they might be willing to help you network.
What skills and/or expertise do you use in your work that relates to your PhD/research area?
I still use all the practical chemistry skills that I learnt as a PhD student and a lot of the transferable skills too, like writing papers and giving presentations.
How does your work/role differ from your PhD and how have you dealt with this?
I work on several different research projects at once now, rather than focussing on one main topic. The deadlines are much tighter and the projects are solution-driven rather than fundamental research. Balancing the various deadlines can be tricky, but I find that I work better under pressure. When I was doing my PhD I was only responsible for myself, but now I have to manage my own research and other peoples’ projects too. You need to have a good oversight of what’s going on and where you need to get to. This can be pretty challenging at times but it is also refreshing compared with a PhD where you do the same thing day-in, day-out.
Senior Scientist – Michael Salako
Name: Michael Salako
Qualification: BSc Biochemistry
Job Role: Senior Scientist
Company: Cancer Research Technology
Briefly tell us what your role entails
I am Lead Biologist within the Target Validation initiative, which is the first and very crucial stage in drug discovery. My job involves three aspects. Firstly, to critically evaluate and identify through patent, literature, clinical data assessment and unpublished Cancer ResearchUKfunded work, exciting novel cancer targets that have the potential of being developed into small molecules or biological therapies. Secondly, I experimentally validate the candidate targets for efficacy and employ a personalised medicine approach, through bioinformatic modelling, to identify the patient population that may benefit most from the drug and aid future clinical trial success. Thirdly, I communicate my findings not only to internal project collaborators, but also to external Pharmaceutical partners.
What background/experience/qualifications are required for the role?
The role requires someone with a PhD and experience in the latest cell and molecular biology techniques. In addition, you need to possess excellent communication and organisation skills and an ability to jump out of your comfort zone, as often a target may lie in a scientific area you know little about, which then requires a thorough analysis of the literature about this target and a detailed presentation to other members of the team. Further, you have to understand the science you are reading about to a high standard and be critical of the data, regardless of the journal it is in, as drug discovery is quite an expensive process and you need to be sure that the target that is taken forward has merit.
What are the highlights and challenges of your work?
It is really exciting piecing together information from various sources about a specific target, that in isolation, may not appear to have an anti-cancer role, but which when pieced together, the information collectively suggests may have such a role. Using state of the art equipment to then experimentally validate this and prove your hypothesis is really fun as you bring theory and reality together. It is also enjoyable interacting with other members of the drug discovery team, such as the medicinal chemists, protein scientists, high-throughput screeners, crystallographers, business managers, as you get to see first hand how the novel target is progressing through the pipeline and the commercial aspect around it. This also allows me to get an insight into other areas of the ‘discovery’ cascade. In addition, travelling around the world to conferences or meeting key opinion leaders affords me the opportunity to get first-hand information, which may give us a competitive advantage. In terms of challenges, when you have to assess a target area, which you are not so familiar with, it can often make you pause for thought, however, once you have researched the area and presented your findings, you feel very satisfied. By doing this you broaden your scientific knowledge, which is always a good thing in drug discovery. Additionally, as my work is driven by milestones, deadlines are always looming, although this is something I personally thrive on.
What type of research did you do before applying for your job?
I was fortunate that I undertook my Postdoctoral research in a translational lab focused on cancer, so I was exposed to how anti-cancer discoveries at the bench could be translated to the bedside for patient benefit, earlier on in my career. However, coming from academia, my knowledge of the drug discovery process was limited and this was the first area I focused on researching about. It was also important to research as much as I could about the company, to determine whether it would be the sort of place I would like to work at and if it was a forward-thinking organisation.
What do you think are the most important things to be doing during a PhD with regards to developing your future career?
During your PhD, you build up a vast number of transferable skills and it can be easy to overlook these – don’t! Build on your communication skills, by taking advanced presentation courses, actively participate in lab meetings and also talk (in lay terms) to your relatives about what you do. Enhance your project and time management skills, as these are equally important attributes for the future.
What advice would you give with regards to developing a network of contacts within your industry?
As drug discovery can be a small world and cancer drug discovery even smaller, other PhD students or Postdocs that you may have met in the past, in a lab or at a conference, may one day hold an appointment at an organisation you may need information from or even a job at. Thus, networking should start early on in your research career and also, it is always nice when you go to a meeting or symposia, and get a chance to catch up with old friends.
What skills and/or expertise do you use in your work that relates to your PhD/research area?
A large proportion of my academic life was focused on oncology and many of the research skills I employed, I have transferred over to my current position. I regularly give PowerPoint presentations, analyse my data in Excel and write reports in Word. As I work on multiple projects I still employ strong time management skills to complete tasks efficiently. The ability to problem solve is crucial, especially when there is a paucity of information about a target.
How does your work/role differ from your PhD and how have you dealt with this?
A significant proportion of my work involves meetings, which I did not have much of during my PhD. As I progress further, this will only increase and the amount of time spent in the lab will reciprocally decrease. Lab work is enjoyable but I find that whether I am doing it or directing others to do it, I still get the same buzz out of seeing the results. I am realising that regular meetings are beneficial, as they can often steer the research towards a faster outcome.
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